Two weeks ago, my son and I watched the reports on CNN concerning Somalia together. Afterwards, we had dinner and my eight year old prayed for the children who don’t have food and gave thanks for his own food. This is pretty normal in our house, so that isn’t the part I remember many days later. What I remember is his question during dinner moreso than the prayer before we ate.

“Dad, why is all the news about America, when there are so many other people and so many other countries in the world?”

He’s got a point. Why are we at the center of the world? And if we’re not, then why do we act like we are? Now, don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t a rant that smacks of being unpatriotic or hyper critical of the U.

In my previous blog I wrote in response to the understanding of the U.S. Constitution’s establishment of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion clause.  The motivation for writing this came from CNN’s broadcast of the Republican Presidential Primary debate held in New Hampshire a couple of weeks ago.  John King, the moderator of the broadcast, asked Congressman Ron Paul, “Does faith have a role in these public issues, the public square, or is it a personal issue at your home and in your church?”  This brings me to the second part of this topic by addressing whether or not it is possible that any person’s core beliefs can be separated from other parts of their life?

 In the book of James there is a great passage which wrestles with this question.  It has to do with a person’s faith, which would embody a person’s core beliefs.  James 2:14 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?”  If there is no action behind what we claim to believe, is our faith a true faith? 

Tony Maddox, CNN International Executive Vice President and managing director was quoted today saying, “It’s our journalism-based assertion that this [human trafficking] is the greatest uncovered news story of today, and CNN plans to rip the lid off.”

CNN’s effort to “rip the lid off” begins with the official launch of The Freedom Project. The site will include regular features such as tracking the numbers of people currently enslaved, solutions to the issues and success stories of survivors and organizations committed to ending the world’s problem of human trafficking.

Please check out this E! News story that was just aired profiling Kristen Bell:

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=170782680474&h=PK1vG&u=zRZcR&ref=mf

And then this CNN clip:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?JSONLINK=/video/living/2009/04/30/barnett.invisible.children.cnn

Earlier this year, the students working in my office had agreat conversation after a “spoken word” event.  This student, Bethany, brought to light what many of herpeers had been talking about:  It’s very “in” right now to like social justice.  This term is thrown around so much we have lost it’s very meaning.  It is the new “sexy.”  A person can easily go out in their Tom’s shoes, carrying their Whole Foods reusable bags, and buy organic fair trade coffee.  They might even jump back into their hybrid car and go home to their eco-friendly appliances and watch a documentary on what is happening with the AIDS in Africa and then donate money to that cause.  Those are great starts and definitely good things!

This past week Mia Farrow went on the Larry King show to talk about her “hunger strike” for 40 days to bring attention to the Sudan crisis.